Hi! I was looking for some help or advice regarding digital art software. Not sure if I should be posting here or in the Software section - I did see the 'photoshop alternatives' thread but it didn't seem to be quite what I was looking for. But here goes!
I'm a hobby level traditional artist who has been experimenting with digital art. It isn't anything I have had the opportunity to study and I'm just making it up as I go along. I'm currently using GIMP and a Wacom Cintiq 12WX and I'm reasonably happy with some of the results that I'm getting. I have the picture I'm working on in fullscreen mode on the Cintiq and all the other tool/layer/palette/etc windows on my desktop monitor. I have set the thumbstrip and express key things to switch monitors, zoom, undo, redo and whatever else I typically do.
I mostly just use a few different paint tool brushes (the basic round one and a speckled one to create textures sometimes) and alter opacity and size settings a lot. I sometimes use the eraser and ink tools. I use layers and layer opacity settings a lot and sometimes layer effects - mostly blur on background layers to try and create some depth.
I'm not looking for a lot more tools or features that I'm not going to use. I'm happy enough just trying to scribble and paint on my tablet as I would make traditional art but I do miss having a box full of assorted brushes, pen nibs and other tools for making different marks and creating different effects. I'm starting to feel a bit limited in terms of brush options and I'd like to try something else.
I did give Photoshop a go. The UI might have been a bit better but by then I was already used to GIMP and had everything set up how I wanted. It didn't seem to have any extra features that I would use. The brush presets didn't seem to suit me and editing brush properties as I worked seemed a lot more time consuming than GIMP. That may have been just because it was an older version or because I wasn't used to it but I certainly didn't feel any urge to upgrade to Photoshop from free software.
Corel Painter and something I have seen on Steam called Black Ink are two things I'm considering. Black Ink is far more within my price range and the brush modification options seem really exciting to me - but I'm not sure how practical it would be in terms of layers and other tools/options that help my workflow. Painter would be more of an investment but I might still go for it if I knew I could work with layers, etc in a similar way to GIMP.
So basically if anyone has any experience with those two pieces of software and could offer advice that would be great, likewise any suggestions for alternative software or better ways of working with what I have! If not, then I figured is was worth a try asking...
I'm a hobby level traditional artist who has been experimenting with digital art. It isn't anything I have had the opportunity to study and I'm just making it up as I go along. I'm currently using GIMP and a Wacom Cintiq 12WX and I'm reasonably happy with some of the results that I'm getting. I have the picture I'm working on in fullscreen mode on the Cintiq and all the other tool/layer/palette/etc windows on my desktop monitor. I have set the thumbstrip and express key things to switch monitors, zoom, undo, redo and whatever else I typically do.
I mostly just use a few different paint tool brushes (the basic round one and a speckled one to create textures sometimes) and alter opacity and size settings a lot. I sometimes use the eraser and ink tools. I use layers and layer opacity settings a lot and sometimes layer effects - mostly blur on background layers to try and create some depth.
I'm not looking for a lot more tools or features that I'm not going to use. I'm happy enough just trying to scribble and paint on my tablet as I would make traditional art but I do miss having a box full of assorted brushes, pen nibs and other tools for making different marks and creating different effects. I'm starting to feel a bit limited in terms of brush options and I'd like to try something else.
I did give Photoshop a go. The UI might have been a bit better but by then I was already used to GIMP and had everything set up how I wanted. It didn't seem to have any extra features that I would use. The brush presets didn't seem to suit me and editing brush properties as I worked seemed a lot more time consuming than GIMP. That may have been just because it was an older version or because I wasn't used to it but I certainly didn't feel any urge to upgrade to Photoshop from free software.
Corel Painter and something I have seen on Steam called Black Ink are two things I'm considering. Black Ink is far more within my price range and the brush modification options seem really exciting to me - but I'm not sure how practical it would be in terms of layers and other tools/options that help my workflow. Painter would be more of an investment but I might still go for it if I knew I could work with layers, etc in a similar way to GIMP.
So basically if anyone has any experience with those two pieces of software and could offer advice that would be great, likewise any suggestions for alternative software or better ways of working with what I have! If not, then I figured is was worth a try asking...
Be the first person to like this.
